This past week, the Chapman Panthers and Woodruff Wolverines met on the diamond in a three game set that had region implications. Chapman, who brought back a ton of experience and talent in the likes of senior shortstop Hank Tolleson, junior third baseman Colby Moon, and junior pitcher/left fielder Lewis McAlister. With that roster, one without context would be quick to question why they were hovering around .500. In short, it is because of their schedule.
Greer High School has a reputation for playing a bunch of 5A teams in their non-region football games in an attempt to battle-harden themselves for the games that matter the most. That strategy seems to pay off since they run the table to a region title almost every year. Chapman Head Coach JD Goodwin took that scheduling approach this season, which paid off as the Panthers were able to sweep Mountain View Prep in their first region series last week. They were also able to battle with a Woodruff team that since the start of the regular season has been easily described as ‘quietly good.’ After seeing them in action this week, there is nothing ‘quiet’ about how good the Wolverines are.
Woodruff also returns valuable experience to their roster such as junior shortstop/pitcher Kayden Barnaby, senior 2nd baseman Ashton Mock, senior pitcher/3rd baseman Connor Kelley, and senior right fielder JC Murphy. But the most striking thing about this team is just how much speed they have.
I have to compare them to Wofford College. The Terriers have a reputation for being a small ball offense that uses their speed and being aggressive on the base paths to manufacture runs. They send runners without hesitation, whether it be a straight or double steal, a hit and run, or squeeze bunt. One cannot argue with the numbers they put up. The strategy works. In this series, Woodruff took that same approach.
The series opener was moved to Wednesday night due to rain and thunderstorms on Monday night, forcing them to have to play three straight nights. The Panthers went on to put themselves in position to win the series on Thursday with a 4-2 victory on the road.
Games 2 and three were played in Inman. The middle game featured a mound matchup between Lewis McAlister and Zach Kehn, neither of which were particularly dominant. Kehn went 5 innings, surrendering 6 earned runs (7 total) on 8 hits with 4 walks and 4 strikeouts. On the other end, Lewis McAlister struggled mightily. He grinded his way through the first inning and despite giving up 3 straight 1 out hits, surrendered just one run. Things snowballed on him in the next frame with a leadoff single to JC Murphy, a walk to Eithan Richards, consecutive base hits to Jackson Richards, and Luke Cooper – the second of which plated 2 runs. McAlister was then taken down for Grayson Smith, who eventually did get out of the inning, but not without further damage. He gave up an RBI knock to Kayden Barnaby and a 2 out run-scoring double to Brycen Davis, putting Chapman in a 7-0 hole as they came to the plate in the bottom of the frame.
Smith led off the Chapman 2nd by reaching on a fielding error on the 2nd baseman. He would later steal 2nd and score on a 1 out single from Silas Powell. With 2 away, Hank Tolleson delivered a base hit to put men on the corners. After Tolleson got himself into scoring position with a swipe, Colby Moon deposited a clutch 2- RBI single to cut the deficit down to 4.
In the top of the third, Smith worked the first 3 up 3 down inning of the game for the Panthers, allowing them to chip away in the bottom half with a single run that came from cashing in a 1 out 2 bagger from Grayden Humphries with a clutch 2 out RBI single from Clay Justus. Woodruff answered by forcing Smith off the hill when they struck for 2 critical insurance runs in the 4th to re-up the ante to 9-4. However, the Chapman offense did not quit fighting back as they hung a three spot in the ensuing half inning to make it 9-7, which would hold as the final score to force a high-stakes rubber game on Friday. But, the final 3 innings weren’t without a storyline.
Sophomore Xander Fly took to the mound in relief of Smith and worked three straight scoreless innings while facing the minimum in that stretch. The story doesn’t stop there, though. Fly would end up picking up right where he left off in the series finale.
Camden Owens got the nod for the Panthers for game 3, but, like McAlister and Smith, he struggled. Woodruff once again drew first blood, cashing in a leadoff single to Barnaby on a 1 out RBI double from Davis. A Chapman error allowed Davis to score to make for a 2-0 Wolverine lead. The Panthers answered with a Lewis McAlister RBI triple that took advantage of an error on the 2nd baseman that allowed Santoro to reach with 2 out. But, Woodruff returned fire with a pair of runs in the top of the 2nd that chased Owens from the game after just an inning and two-thirds. He gave way to Fly, who was able to go the rest of the way while keeping the Wolverine offense at bay.
“Xander deserves this”, said Chapman Head Coach JD Goodwin. “He is probably the hardest-working kid we have. In the weight room, he is pound-for-pound one of the strongest kids in the school. He does everything we ask him to do. Against a murderers’ row schedule, we threw him out against some tough teams and some big schools. He did not fare as well as he would’ve liked. But he just kept working and never batted an eye. We were down an arm this week with Colt McPeters having surgery again. So we had to have someone step up this week and my goodness did Xander do that. It is such a pleasure to see him get rewarded for all the work he has done and how good a team mate he is.”
Woodruff did not score despite having a runner in scoring position on 4 occasions over the next 5 and a third, allowing the Panthers the chance to come back. After being held off balance for 4 innings, they finally got the breakthrough they were hoping for, and did so by taking some cues from the Wolverines. After a leadoff walk to Santoro, McAlister was hit by a pitch. Humphries followed with a single to load the bases for Clay Justus, who laid down a suicide squeeze that scored Santoro while advancing everyone else. The one thing you don’t expect to see after a squeeze bunt is another one. Silas Powell executed to perfection to plate McAlister. A wild pitch scored Humphries to tie the game heading to the final inning.
“We try to put pressure on teams”, said Goodwin of the late small ball approach. “I like to let our kids swing early, but in situations where it calls for a bunt, we are going to do it. We trust them to get it down and we work on it everyday. I am proud of our guys for executing when their number got called right there.”
After Fly stranded a runner in scoring position in the top of the frame, Taylor Rogers led off the bottom with a walk. Tolleson was plunked to put the winning run in scoring position, but to ensure having 2 in striking distance of the plate, Moon laid down a sac bunt to advance both runners. At this point, any contact could win the game – and the series – for Chapman. But, things ended up going the unconventional way. Santoro was intentionally walked to set up a force at any base or a double play to force extra innings. But it backfired. With the bases full, McAlister drew a walk, forcing home the winning run.
“The greatest joy a team can give a coach is to fight to the end”, said Goodwin after clinching the series. “Baseball is not a sprint, it’s a marathon some nights and our motto is just to keep playing and to keep playing the right way. More often than not things will hopefully go in your favor if you do that. Sometimes the baseball gods smile on you. But in the end, this was just 2 good ball clubs going at it. That’s all it is. They [Woodruff} played their hearts out and our kids played their hearts out for three straight games, and if you are a baseball fan, those were three incredible games to watch. We were fortunate to come out on top. I can’t be any more proud of our kids.”
With the series victory, Chapman improved to 9-7 on the season and now sits at 5-1 in region play, which places them atop the standings heading into Spring Break week. Woodruff has dropped to 9-3 on the season and 4-2 in 3-3A, separated from the Panthers by just 1 game. In essence, this region is still up for grabs (as it almost always is up until the last week in every sport).
Chapman has the week off and will pick back up following the break Monday the 14th on the road against Union County and then head to Inman on Wednesday. The series concludes at the Timken Sports Complex on Friday. All three games are slated to start at 6:30 PM.
Woodruff will also take the Spring Break week off and return to action on the 14th, starting yet another crucial 3-game region set with MVP. The Wolverines will host the first two games of the set and the finale will be at Mountain View on Friday the 18th. First pitch for all three games is set for 6:00.
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